Yep, I’m doing it again.  I know, I know, the last time I did this it was about a month and I was right back into blogging again.  I can’t guarantee that I might or might not do that in the near future but for now I figured what I’ve written since 2005 (3-5 times a week) was a good snapshot into my life.  Obviously there are things I don’t put out for public consumption since I always have to assume my employer and future employers will scan anything I’ve put out there and use it against me and never for me.  When I reference future employers I’m not implying I have a new job, nor have I interviewed for any.  I’m just saying that in today’s Facebook/MySpace/Twitter world, anything you post could have ramifications down the line.

One thing that I wanted to do when I installed Google Analytics on this blog last year was to see what states and countries were hitting the site.  I half-heartedly joked to myself that once all 50 states had perused the site at least once that it would be time to place the site to rest.  Interestingly enough, the only state that hasn’t sent a request to the site (on purpose or inadvertently) was South Dakota.  So to heck with you, South Dakota!  I’m turning out the lights and not waiting for your call.

Blogging’s a tricky business.  While it gives any schmoe an outlet to express their opinions or to spread news around, very few people do it properly.  I do like how it keeps entities like the government and the standard media outlets in check, calling them out on inaccuracies or flat-out lies, but there is a seedy underbelly to it too where unchecked rumors can ruin people and there’s nothing a public figure can do about it.  I compare blogging to Las Vegas – it represents all that is right and also all that is wrong with the world today.

The fact remains that when I initially expounded on semi-lucid rants and random life occurrences, I wanted to keep family stories out of the site.  What happened though is all I really care about at this point are my two precious daughters and awesome wife.  What doesn’t need to happen is me putting their life out there for all to review.  Since that’s all I seem to concentrate on and care about in this stage in my life, there’s no sense maintaining a site to give updates on mundane family life.  This isn’t an attack on those who have blogs about family life, as there are a few sites that I love reading their updates.  It’s just that I don’t want to do it and since my inspiration to write lately is all about family, I’m gonna keep those entries offline.

I really want to thank my blog host who, in addition to providing me with a place to host the site also was the one to purchase this URL for me and keeps renewing it.  He didn’t have to do that but has done so all these years out of the goodness of his heart and I appreciate all he’s done for me.  I’m also extremely thankful to all those who post comments and keep me in check.  For those of you who lurk and read only, I’m amazed at just how far this blog spread and for that I’m grateful for you reading it too.  One thing that’s become obvious is I’m in the wrong freakin’ profession!  I have printed out my output for the past 4 years and the manuscript is almost 6 inches thick.  And that’s from only writing for 5-10 minutes a day, usually during my lunch break.

Again, this doesn’t mean I’m done writing online but if I do revive my passion, it will be good to change the focus on what and how I write about things.  In the meantime, I’ll be actively updating my Twitter and Facebook feeds (see the links on the lower right) and anyone can still email me using the Contact Me box (also on the lower right corner of the site).

Adios, amigos.  Let’s all hope the next time you’ll see me writing online it will be when we’re based in an area of the country that has one or more of their sports teams that are named after the Ursidae family (Yes, that’s a hint and there are several possibilities, none of which I will confirm or deny).

It’s been fun.